I served as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Development at Paramount Pictures, A Viacom Company. At Paramount, I had been responsible for establishing digital strategy and helping to drive the companies most public partnerships such as the Apple Itunes, Amazon, and Walmart partnerships. Prior to joining Paramount in 2006, I led the global wireless strategy and development team for Windows Media® at Microsoft Corp., pushing entertainment convergence within the wireless space. I have been at the forefront of media and technology for more than a decade and am nationally recognized as an influential leader in the film and high-tech industries.
Before joining Microsoft, I was an entrepreneur of successful media and technology companies, including the post-production feature film industry’s first all-digital post-production sound design and editing facility, located in Burbank, Calif.
I was appointed as executive vice president for the world’s largest streaming media aggregator and later as chairman and chief executive officer of a digital media security company. I also helped pioneer the development of key technologies used by copyright owners in preventing piracy of music and films over the Internet’s peer-to-peer community.
I started my career in Los Angeles, where I spearheaded a production company called Goodbro Pictures with Hollywood star and partner Cuba Gooding Jr. I was Gooding’s personal manager and later executive producer through several critically acclaimed and successful films, including the popular “Jerry Maguire,” for which Gooding earned an Academy Award.
In addition, in May 2002, I founded the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA) www.dcia.info , a nonprofit organization working toward a viable framework for the Internet peer-to-peer community agreeable to copyright owners, consumers and consumer electronic industries.
I spend my time speaking, consulting and writing. In addition, I lecture to law students at the University of Southern California on the wide diversity of issues surrounding copyright owners and the digital age. I also teach at the Los Angeles Regional Technology Alliance (LARTA) University and serve as a consultant and on the boards of emerging and fast-growth technology companies. I'm also a contributing editor to LA VOX, Los Angeles’ leading voice in technology.

Chick-Fil-A Day Not What The Media Portrays

In case you missed it, about a week ago Dan Cathy, the president of the very popular fast food chain, said, “We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit.” That comment started a firestorm.

The LBGT community began to try to convince people to boycott Chick-fil-A regardless of the fact that the popular chain doesn’t discriminate against gays as employees or patrons. That doesn’t seem to matter in this case. It appears as though they just want to punish someone for his protected free speech. They apparently convinced some in government to support the boycott. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said “Chick-fil-A does not represent Chicago values.” I guess Chick-fil-A needs to have a few murders per day in their stores to meet his standard? Not sure what “Chicago values” are but, right now isn’t the time to make Chicago the standard for values.

For the first time in my life, today I visited a Chick-fil-A to show my support for Cathy’s right to free speech, answering the call of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who had proclaimed today “Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day.” I live in LA so, I was not expecting much in way of support but, I was not just surprised, I was blown away. The Chick-fil-A in Northridge, California, had a line that twisted throughout the parking lot. It was almost 100 degrees but, that didn’t seem to deter anyone. They were peaceful and the demographic was wide ranging. Blacks, whites, teenagers, kids, Latinos and all other categories you could imagine. At this location there were no anti-Chick-fil-A protesters.

So, how was the chicken? Amazing! Now I know why people love this place. The store was run extremely well. Clean, polite and efficient. The staff brought water to those in line, they handed out umbrellas for protection from the sun and they served delicious food quickly. This has been replicated across the nation. This huge one day movement involving millions of supporters made their opinions heard and voted with their money and presence. It has been estimated that the chain will have booked almost $100 million in revenue or more just today.

When I returned home I turned on the news to see how this would be reported. NBC in Los Angeles chose to focus on the protesters. Not the ones supporting Chick-fil-A but, the ones protesting the supporters. The protesters were a tiny fraction compared to the supporters, yet the media focused 90% of their attention on those few. This does not represent the truth of the actual event. The meme from the anti-Chick-fil-A groups proclaim that opposition to gay marriage is anti-gay.

To make it worse, the fast food Wendy’s chain tweeted ” we proudly serve everyone” insinuating that Chick-fil-A doesn’t serve everyone. They quickly deleted the tweet as they were corrected by thousands in the twitter sphere.

The issue simply isn’t so simple. For thousands of years marriage has been defined by religion as between a man and a woman. In the past, couples were married by their church, not the state, up until people began requesting legal support from the state to define their separation or divorce. For most Christians, this has never been about equal rights but about attaching gay marriage to the definition defined by the bible. Christians get married before God and not the state. The state has laws that protect and grant couples’ rights based on that marriage. I, nor most Christians I know, have never opposed gay couples having equal rights to heterosexual couples, they have only been opposed to the church being forced to redefine what it has recognized as marriage for thousands of years within the church.

Isn’t it time we be truthful about this debate? The manipulation about these sensitive issues within our media needs to stop if we are ever going to solve this very important and very sensitive issue. You can see by this picture I took, there were no protestors within my view. You be the judge.

Chick-Fil-A Northridge, Ca 8/1/12

Correction: Dan Cathy is the president and COO of Chick-fil-A. I previously wrote that he was the CEO.

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.

That is my point. The word Marriage was adopted by the state. It was not theirs to use adopt. They should have a different word for same sex as well as heterosexual couples. I am fine giving that to the state and keep marriage between my wife and my church.

I’m curious Derek, What is your personal definition of Marriage? Not the churches or the bibles. To me Marriage is between two people that love each other entirely and want to spend the rest of their lives together. That is my definition of marriage. I’ll be curious to read your reply and anyone elses that wants to offer their personal definition of marriage.

I think it is clear from this article what my personal belief is. Traditional marriage although, I am not opposed to the same state benefits for gay couples. Call it what you want but give the same rights.

Under the various loose definitions we use for hate groups, doesn’t NBC qualify for amplifying the voices of the small number of protestors against Chick-fil-A and ignoring the supporters? Don’t they have a much bigger platform to distribute their view?

When you don’t at least cover both sides of an issue, that’s bias and not truth in journalism.

How can this country come together when we can so easilyand eagerly find countless things to divide over?

Where did his money come from. also is it not true that these donations come from a charitable arm of Chic fil a called WinShape? WinShape 2010, Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 6/27/12]

Very interesting and well written article Derek. Great take on marriage and the role of the church. Marriage for me, I guess because of the days we live in, has always been a legal thing that was performed in the church, ordained by God. I never even considered the two aspects as separate. In God’s eyes, I’m sure a scriptural wedding would be totally and completely sufficient regardless of the state’s approval/certification. Likewise, any marriage performed outside of the church, ie J.P., etc. that did not include the biblical element and blessing would be simply what it is, an abomination. That is a “right” I could live with. Just don’t impose the sins of the flesh on the church, that is all I ask.

why would your personal definition of marriage have any relationship to the legal, traditional, time-honored definition…between a man and a woman. derek is correct on all counts, and his commentaries are succinct and valid.